MY LOVELY WAR DOLL

WHAT DOES "I LOVE YOU" MEAN? 3

"I'd still be able to fight!"

Erwin sighed as she gripped her right arm tightly from stress. "{Y/n}, you know that...the war is over." He told her. She stepped back slightly, standing straight more, still gripping her arm. "I am the Major's tool...but if he doesn't need me anymore...then I should be discarded." She said quietly, melancholy. The grip on her arm tightened. "Please discard me somewhere." She begged. Erwin looked at her with sad eyes...

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On the train, {Y/n} held her suit case on her lap as Erwin sat next to her with his arms folded. She watched women and men going to or from work, children playing, and mother's taking care of little ones. She watched as the world passed her by.

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"Lieutenant Smith." {Y/n} began, getting his attention. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, I left the army. I'm not a lieutenant anymore." "Then...what should I call you?" She asked. "Call me president." He told her, looking at the building they stood before. "This is my company. I bought an old house and renovated it a bit." They went inside and she followed him as he introduced her to the place. "The first floor has the reception desk." He mentioned. {Y/n} saw a dirty blonde woman working with a man behind her desk, thanking him for his time. And next to her was a woman with tied up blonde hair telling someone about the time of delivery for mail. "The second floor houses the office and writing department." Erwin pointed up to the second floor, where you could see workers talking, leaning against the banister and others going up the stairs to their office. "Writing...?" {Y/n} asked curiously. "Yes, this department writes letters to the requests of our clients." He got his card, and checked in for work. "There's still many people who don't know how to write." He told her. "I didn't know how to write either. Until, the Major taught me how." "I see." He directed her to a quiet room. "I was thinking about starting a business when the war ended. The government's postal service doesn't address the needs of civilians. So, I thought it would be a good opportunity." He explained. He stopped and turned on his heel to face {Y/n}. "Now, here's your orders." Upon hearing the word 'orders', {Y/n} straightened her back to show she was paying attention. "{Y/n} {l/n}, the fact is that Levi left you in my care. So, I'm going to give you orders in his place for a while. You're still very useful, {Y/n}. You can work, right here." The room he had lead her to was a mail organizing room. There were two polished wooden columns, and wooden desks also polished with shelves on them to stock the letters that needed to be addressed to their owners. To the right, were papers tied together, used to write the letters to clients. "Jean!" Erwin called out. "Yeah, what's up president?" A young male voice could be heard from behind one of the shelves. {Y/n} looked back to see who the owner of the voice was. "You're supposed to say, 'How can I help you, president?'" Erwin scolded. The man named Jean came from behind the shelf. He looked to be in between {Y/n} and Erwin's height, hair styled in an undercut where the top was dirty blonde and the shaved was dark brown. His eyes were almost the same color as the beautifully polished wood. He wore a half buttoned up gray t-shirt that showed his black undershirt beneath it, and his work pants which were a gray brown color. "So?" He replied lazily. "What's up...?" Erwin had then appeared behind and smacked him in the back of the head with a newspaper. "Ow!" {Y/n} watched the scene unfold. "Why did you do that?!" Jean exclaimed annoyed. "You didn't listen to me." Erwin told him as Jean rubbed his aching head. "This is Jean, he's a postman here. He's an old friend from before I started this company. And Jean, let me introduce you to {Y/n}." Erwin told him, mentioning to her. She was about to salute, but she stopped herself and bowed instead. Jean gave her a curious look, hearing metal clanking under her white buttoned up shirt that was tucked beneath her long green skirt. "She'll be a postman starting today." Erwin finished. "She's just a little kid." Jean blurted, referring to her height. No one really knew of {Y/n}'s age, nor thought to ask. "She's highly capable of performing her duties. I'm going to go to the bank for a bit. Teach her what she needs to know." And with that, Erwin left the building, leaving {Y/n} in Jean's care. Jean sighed and lead her to a locker and knocked on it. "Put your stuff in here." He directed. "Yes sir." "Now, your uniform." He presented it to her, looking down at her as she stared blankly at the fabric. "Yes, of course sir." She replied obediently. She proceeded to lift her top over her head, causing Jean to get flustered and look away. "Wait! Hold on!" He exclaimed, covering his eyes. He peeked when she finished. The uniform was a blue button up vest over a large white button up and a red tie at the collar. Along with a navy blue skirt. It looked nice, but..."Hm...it's too big." "It's not a problem." She reassured. Jean's eyes flickered to her gloves. "Shouldn't you take those off?" He suggested with arms folded. She began to take the gloves off and Jean was slightly astounded to see her metal hands. "Will it be hard to sort the mail like that?" He asked, just a little concerned. "No, it's not going to be a problem." She reassured him again.

He took a letter and showed her the address on it. "Sort them just like it says here, then put them in those shelves over there. There's a huge pile of mail, but you don't have to rush." He leaned over and picked up his duffle bag, putting the strap on his shoulder. "And the break room is on the second floor." He added. She saluted as a response. "I understand, sir." He gave her confused look and continued on his way. "See ya."

Hours passed and it was now late in the evening. Jean came back on one of the blue motor powered bicycles the company funded. When he went to check on {Y/n}, she was just finishing organizing all the mail. He looked around to see the place spotless, not one letter left on any of the tables. "Sir." She said catching his attention. "I've almost completed my duties." She informed him. "Were you working here the whole time? Without taking a break?" He asked, amazement laced in his voice. "I'm used to long operations." She simply said, earning a sigh as a reply. "So uh, you maybe wanna try...delivering the mail?" He suggested questionably. "Delivering?" "You deliver the letter to the address written on it." He explained. She studied the map on the wall showing the route around the town. Jean looked at her as she did this, wondering just where on Earth this girl is from. "Anyway...I'm going to go home now." She continued to study the map, drowning out whatever it was he said. "See ya tomorrow." He said leaving again.