Shorter Than Me

28 Levi

She hurries past me. Lerra looks at me expectantly, but I'm not here to talk to her. Someone said Guiin came in here, so I did too. Lerra didn't need to make that much of a fuss over me seeing Guiin; it was only a little bit of her back that I could see.

It's better than the time Hanji had an experiment where she wanted to know if titans' nakedness had anything to do with their hunger for humans, regeneration, or size. After about a week of people awkwardly averting their gaze, because the Commander had approved "any and all experiments that do not directly harm anyone other than Hanji," she concluded that the lack of clothes was just a demonstration of their primitive nature and had no effect whatsoever on anything that made them titans. It was the most stupid experiment I've ever seen, but it gave everyone an excuse to avoid her and kept her busy for a week because she kept a detailed journal on any growth, odd hungers, and regeneration abilities.

"Did you need anything, Captain?" Lerra asks.

"No." I walk out the door to find Guiin. She's not far down the hall, so I call out her name. "Guiin."

She freezes and turns around. "Yes?"

I quickly walk to her. "Commander Erwin wanted me to make sure you were doing fine with your squad. If you had any trouble or questions."

I can see a slight blush she's trying to hide. She was probably embarrassed by me walking in. She gets embarrassed a lot. "Um..." She seems to be thinking. "How much do I have to follow orders?" She doesn't wait before explaining. "On the last expedition, the Commander told me to keep my squad away from the titans. He wanted to make sure we didn't die in a fight someone else could have fought. At least, that's what I think. So when a bunch of Scouts were being massacred, I hesitated and wondered if my squad should go and fight. That's not why we survived--most of us--because we went down after about a minute to fight. But should I have obeyed orders or not?"

"Obeying the order is always your choice. Obedience is what keeps the military in order. But sometimes orders aren't specific enough, or they are questionable. It's either do what you think is right, or stay obedient and loyal. Maybe it's the difference between loyalty to the leaders and loyalty to your fellow Scouts. The Commander has sworn to make decisions that will benefit humanity as a whole, so whatever choices you make should reflect that as well."

She nods. "Will I get punished for disobeying orders to help humanity?"

"You did get punished for saving the trainee who fell off the Wall, but that was merely reasserting authority for everyone else. Brave acts should be commended, but orders should be followed as well. It's the opinion of the individual to reach the line that balances both."

She's nodding again, so apparently she agrees with me or at least understands what I'm saying. "Alright. Have you ever disobeyed orders to do the right thing?"

She's reaching to a more personal level. However, I can avoid the question with an adequate answer. "I trust the Commander's judgment. I can guarantee if he were there, he would have ordered you to do just what you did. He's not one to hold Scouts back and let other Scouts fight to the death." That's what she wanted, confirmation that what she did was right or justified. Rather than comparing her to myself, I just told her she was right in doing what she chose.

"Er- Jaeger said something about you telling him to choose whichever option he thinks he'll regret the least."

"That too. Listen to your conscience. It will usually be right."

"When is it not?"

I shrug. "When you're delerious, drunk, too tired, or insane."

Her eyes darken. They seem to get more empty, like I just opened the lid to a heavy barrel and realized it wasn't as full as I thought. She sighs. "Am I insane?" Her voice is different too, deeper and quieter. I barely have to think to know there's a lot of pain in her.

The thing is, maybe she's insane and maybe she's not. You can never tell once someone's eyes have seen death. The only ones who know are those closest to them and the person themself. "You'll have to find that out for yourself."

She looks down. "Alright."

"Do you have any more questions?"

"No."

"Alright." I turn and walk away, hoping I didn't just crush her soul. She's strong enough.

Why are Levi's parts so short? Because Levi is so short. I just solved the biggest question I've ever had in this book. Took me 28 chapters to figure out. Good job, Syre. Pat on the back. I get a heart, a kitty, and a toy car. You guys get them too. Anyway, my author's notes are always super long and they look unnecessary compared to a short chapter, so here's the end. :D

Haha just kidding. So I just looked on Wattpad Help (or whatever its called) and it says that the limit is 200 parts, and if there are more, some errors could occur. So I have a question. Should I:

a. Delete a lot of the author's notes (which will result in loss of reads, votes, and lovely comments).

b. Continue this book as another book, but still have the same title, cover, etc.

c. End the book and make a sequel. This option is possible, as I have the next two chapters planned out and I guess they would be able to become the end of the book. I think this would be my first choice.

I would really like to know your opinion on this, so if you could just comment even the letter of the option you think would be best (even if you've never commented or voted or anything) I would greatly appreciate your opinion. Thank you. :)