The Girl With The Yellow Ribbon - Attack on Titan

Chapter Five

"Petra, there's a surprise for you." Levi said, his back pressed to the door with one foot propped against the frame.

"Oh?" Petra smiled. "What is it?"

"It isn't a what, it's a who." Levi slipped his hand behind his back and gently touched the doorknob. He grinned slightly before whispering over his shoulder, "Okay, you can come in now--but be quiet, she still isn't feeling a hundred percent."

Levi nudged the door open, his smile returning to his usual stoic stare, and a small head poked it's way into the room.

She was young, maybe twelve years old, with bright red hair and freckles splattered like paint across her cheeks.

"Petra!" The girl cried, pushing her way past Levi and rushed to Petra's bedside. "Are you okay? The captain told me you were hurt real bad, is that true? Are you hurt?"

"Yeah, baby, I'm hurt." Petra murmured, stroking the girl's vibrant red hair with a comforting touch. "But I'm okay right now, you're here and the captain's here and that's enough to make anyone feel better."

"You promise you're feeling okay?" She whispered shyly.

"I promise I'm feeling okay." Petra replied. The girl smiled broadly before throwing herself across Petra in a hug. Petra groaned, but still smiled.

Levi bit his tongue, attempting to restrain himself from speaking out against the girl sprawled on the bed who he did not know well--he could see Petra was in pain, but she still smiled and embraced the young girl.

A bond between sisters is a bond that can never be broken, no matter how hot the fire or how sharp the blade.

"How's mama been? And daddy?" Petra asks, stroking the girl's hair again out of instinct. "Are they both okay?"

"Yeah, they are." She pauses. "Well, mama's sick again but she'll be okay, she always is. And daddy's at work in the shop."

"That's good to hear," Petra says. "And what've you been doing?"

"Nothing really, mostly my studies and helping mama at home." She grins broadly.

"You haven't been getting into any trouble now, have you, Marie?" Petra's tone drops slightly, but she still smiles.

"No trouble, Petra, I promise! I've been good!" Marie exclaims. She lays her head on the bed beside Petra's belly, and looks up with big brown eyes. "I promise I've been good."

"Okay, Marie," Petra pauses before reaching over and fiddling with Marie's hair again. "I believe you."

Marie laughs, burying her face in the off-white bedsheets.

Levi watches from the corner, his mind warping with memories of his brother and sister--though they weren't biologically related, the trio was as close to blood as possible.

Isabel Magnolia. Levi remembers her roaring laugh, her caring nature--the same caring nature turning to utter stupidity when she tried to set a bird with a broken wing free above ground by going up the 11th Stairwell without paying. Had Levi and Farlan not came to her rescue, who knows what would've happened.

The Underground is no place for a young lady, especially one like Isabel who didn't know when to bite her tongue.

And still, Isabel was one of the best people Levi had ever met. She might not have been very bright, but she sure was kind, and what she lacked in intelligence she made up in kindness.

Seeing Marie now, hunched over in a fit of laughter at a joke Levi had not heard, he couldn't help but think that her and Isabel would be great friends--hell, they even look alike.