CHAPTER 8 - Family

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"You think that the two already found the place?" Hanji said as they successfully sent the military policemen into deep slumber as they passed the underground cell of the castle.

Unlike with what Mikasa and Levi passed through, there were already lightened torches that was hanging on the walls for them.

"Hanji-san, we've been walking for hours already. How come Historia wandered at a very far place with just walking?" Connie whined as his hands were placed at the back of his head.

"The two is probably stepping on the Reiss' lands right now." Erwin said as he continued to walk, looking around the place if there were still Military Police left.

"If they stole horses, it's not impossible." Armin added as he followed the tall blonde.

After walking for another few minutes, they heard cries of children before Erwin stopped. The sound was too soft, they did not know if they were really hearing things or not. All of them stopped as well as Sasha and Connie stopped talking before all them were conquered by silence.

Erwin closed his eyes as he concentrated in listening to his surroundings, he heard a lot of soft voices that he could barely hear, a lot of them calling for help, and some were the voices of children who were crying.

"I thought that all of the people in the underground were already living on the surface?" Jean suddenly spoke as Erwin opened his eyes. Historia was right. He thought.

"Let's go." He simply said as no one answered Jean's question, for they did not know as well why were there people there in the first place.

As they continued to walk, the cries were getting louder and louder, it meant that they were getting close to the place that they were looking for. All of them stopped walking as they saw two ways in front of them that made them confused on what road to take.

Armin looked at the two paths, as he remembered what Historia had said.

"There will be two paths, I don't know where among the two that the sound came from. Sir Thomnas stopped me there."

"Historia said that this is the place were she stopped. Right?" Armin said, as he caught the attention of the others. "Let's split up into two groups, Commander Erwin."

The group was split into two. Hanji, Erwin and Armin took the left path as Jean, Sasha and Connie took the right one.

The both group continued to walk, as Jean's group was busy following the loud cries that they heard.

"So this is the right way?" Sasha said as she suddenly started to run, being guided by the sound of the people crying for help made it easier for her to know where to go.

"Sasha, wait!" Connie suddenly said as he followed her while running as well.

"Geez, guys be careful!" Jean said before he started to run and followed the two.

As he was following the two, he suddenly bumped onto Connie who suddenly just stopped from running. "Ah, sorry." He said as he faced Sasha who was staring at the people.

There was another path on their left, right before a group of cells were placed where they could see a large group of people who were suffering inside.

A lot of them were quiet, and most of them looked so unhealthy. The people that they were looking at were inside in a lot of cells underground.

They could not imagine how they managed to get there when there was a lot of people and a lot of cells as well. But that was not the part of the underground where they were hearing the loud cries, they needed to walk further for them to see those people.

Sasha walked near the cell as she bent down her knees to level herself with the woman who was looking at her from the inside.

"How long have you guys been here?" She asked as she looked at her with sincerety in her eyes, but the woman only looked at her as her hands reached Sasha's wrist and gripped it hard.

"Please, help us." She said, weakly.

Sasha slowly stood up as Jean stared at the people, the fact that there were so many could not sink in to his mind. Somehow, their features reminds him of someone.

"They are from a different kind, aren't they?" Jean suddenly uttered as he started to walk towards where the large cries were coming from. Sasha looked at him before she and Connie started to follow him.

"Heichou..." Jean uttered as he saw a large number of people reaching out for Mikasa and Levi who was in front of them. His eyes grew wide as he looked at the poor humans inside the cells. They were thin, filthy and they looked so weak.

Levi and Mikasa suddenly saw them as the two walked towards them. Jean noticed how Mikasa looked like she was spacing out more than how she looked like she did not care at all before. He knew that something was bothering her.

"Where's Erwin and the others?" Levi suddenly asked. Jean was about to answer when they heard footsteps coming from where Sasha and the others came from.

"Levi..." A person called that caught their attention. "So you guys already found them." Erwin continued.

"There are a lot of them from the path that we took. There are a lot of children as well." Hanji said as she looked at Levi and Mikasa before Sasha spoke that caught their attention.

"There were many people like them from where we passed through as well." Sasha said before she looked at the people inside the cell once more.

"Mikasa... They resemble a bit---" Armin was about to say something to Mikasa when Levi cut him off.

"They are Asians. The ones who were not killed but they were locked here by the Reiss' family before." Levi said before he paused. "They've stayed here for a lot of years already."

"We still don't know who is behind this, but one thing I am sure. Mr. Thomnas is a suspect, and any other government officials who are loyal to the Reiss' family are a suspect to this matter." Levi said before Mikasa started to speak that made him surprised, she did not talk the whole time when they knew the information about them. The fact that they were Asians just like her mother made her idle for a moment.

"There are two Military Policemen that we beat up a while ago. We can use them to get some sort of information about who's behind this." She said, sounding serious as if she was ready to kill as soon as she found out who was behind the crime.

"We'll settle this with Historia as soon as the sun rises, but for now, we need to take the hostages first in a safe place." Erwin said before he looked at the people inside the cell.

Levi and Mikasa nodded as the both of them walked towards where the two Military Policemen were, they carried the two unconscious men as they walked towards the door where they entered. Erwin and the others followed them as it lead to the back of Reiss' family's land.

Mikasa and Levi directly went to the abandoned barn and tied the two men up on a pole. Mikasa stared at the two with her furrowed brows and angry eyes, before Levi spoke as her anger faded.

"Save up your questions for tomorrow, we need to rest before we settle these things." He said as he faced her.

"Don't we need to go back to the house first? The maids might be worried for not seeing us." Mikasa said as she walked towards where Armin was before their conversation was cut by Erwin.

"Jean and Sasha, the two you will stay here with Levi and Mikasa as Connie, Armin, Hanji and me will go back to the castle using the underground passage. We need to inform Historia about this as soon as possible." Erwin said before Sasha and Jean saluted to him as Erwin faced Levi. "Levi, guard down the underground and take down every detail that you will notice."

"I know what to do." Levi answered as Erwin nodded at him before he faced Hanji and the others and nodded at them. Signalling them to start walking back towards where the underground cell was.

Levi and Mikasa sneakily went back to where the both of them came from. As they fix the things regarding the maids, they went back to the barn after, seeing Sasha and Jean talking with each other while sitting beside the two men who was tied, still sleeping.

Levi entered the barn but Mikasa stopped walking any further. He noticed it that made him look back at her and stared at her eyes. He noticed that she was thinking about something very deep, something that made him think to let her be alone for the mean time.

He continued to walk and sit on a vacant place before he rested his back on a wall that was behind him, as he looked back at the doorway and saw Mikasa walked away from it. He sighed before he pulled himself from the wall and looked back at Jean and Sasha who was happily talking with each other.

Hours passed and Levi saw Jean and Sasha laid themselves already to sleep, but he was thinking about the other girl, Mikasa. Where the hell is that brat? He thought as he started to pull himself up to stand and started to walk away from the insides of the barn, worriedly.

He looked around the big grass land of the Reiss' family, as he was looking for Mikasa. Under a big tree near the barn, he saw her resting her body on the tree, while looking blankly at the dark sky with tons of small bright stars.

He slowly walked towards her but she did not mind even thought she already heard his footsteps. Levi sat beside her and rested his back on the tree having the same position that Mikasa had.

"Still busy thinking about them?" Levi said, facing her while looking at her eyes. When he did not get any response, he sighed and looked at the black sky, searching for the brightest star.

Silence conquered them for a while, not until Mikasa broke it. "Heichou... You think, if they were not stuck in that dirty cell, you think my parents would still be alive until now?"

Levi was taken aback with her sudden question, not knowing what to answer, he shrugged his shoulders. But Mikasa was not asking for any answers. She just wanted for someone to listen to her. She just wanted to talk to somebody. Someone to who she could release her thoughts off carelessly.

"I want to cry." She said that made Levi turned his head on her. Levi was about to say something but Mikasa did not let him to, she continued to talk without warning. That made Levi realize what she was up to. "But I don't have any tears left."

"I wanted to cry but my eyes doesn't want to... Because it's pointless." She said then sighed before she looked down to her legs. "For many long years, I thought that I didn't have any people that is related to me with blood. I felt like I was an outsider. I have a different race from both sides that was being eliminated in the society, that made it even more hard for me to find someone the same as me."

"And there, we will find them, locked in a group of underground cells, starving for so many years. They said they were giving them food but it was obvious that it wasn't enough for them to stay healthy... Somehow, it felt like it was home for a moment. The time that I finally knew that they were Asians... But looking back to my real home back then, something is still missing. When I saw them... All those Asians who were locked down there only reminded me of my mother. It was only her who I see." She said and smiled faintly with her last words as she was staring up at the sky.

"Having no Ackerman and Asians left aside from me, made me think if my parents really existed or they were just some sort of a dream, making me think that Ackermans and Asians were not existing to begin with... But then, we saw those people... The image of the picture was slowly getting clearer, but the puzzle still isn't complete at all." She said before she looked at her Captain who was quietly listening to her.

"Heichou, you think there are still Ackermans left? Just like how we saw the Asians, you think we can see other Ackermans hidden somewhere?" Mikasa asked that made Levi sighed in order to compose himself. He knew that this time, she asked a question and that she was waiting for an answer that was coming from him.

Levi looked at his legs, before he looked at Mikasa as he started to talk. "We may, and we may not. Sometimes, the people that you are looking for are just in front of you. Sometimes, those people that you are searching for are the ones that you get bumped onto in a day. Sometimes, they are actually the people that you are fighting with. Just like how we saw and knew about Kenny, right?" He said, but he saw how unsatisfied Mikasa was with his answer. For he did not answer her with an absolute answer.

Levi sighed as he was making up his mind. Whether to tell her the truth about him or not. He tried to talk to her about it several times before, but it was always getting postponed by Hanji or some other people that made him think maybe he should not do it. But it was time already, Mikasa was searching for an answer that only him could tell her. He closed his eyes while sighing as Mikasa furrowed her brows at her Captain.

"Mikasa... To tell you the truth, I, as well, is searching for the others like you." He said that made Mikasa even more confused with what he said. Levi opened his eyes and faced Mikasa, seeing her confused face made him smile a little, but he did not let her see it.

"What are you saying, Heichou?" Mikasa asked, thinking of the little clue that she thought about what Levi told her.

"I am an Ackerman too." Levi said as he looked away from Mikasa's widened eyes. He stared at the big wide sky and smiled a little. "That's why I am abnormal, just like what you said."

"H-Heichou... H-how?" Mikasa asked, it felt like she was knowing that there were still other Asians left all over again. "Have you hid this from us all the time?"

Levi shook his head as his answer to Mikasa's last question before he tried to explain himself as he looked at Mikasa. "I only knew it just when Kenny Ackerman was about to die. He is my mother's older brother, that made him my uncle. And that was the only time, I knew a small information about who I really am."

"Why didn't you tell me about this?!" Mikasa suddenly blurted out as she violently placed her hands onto his shoulders.

"I didn't want any attachments." He said before he looked down. Mikasa's eyes widen with what Levi had told her. "The both of us were looking for a family, someone that can always be with us, someone that we can always return to after having a long journey... and I just... couldn't help myself but to hide it from you. We don't know whether the ones with us today, will be there together with us tomorrow. It was for our own good, Mikasa."

Mikasa's tears started to build up from her eyes. She looked down as the tears started to fall. Levi could feel her grip getting tighter before he heard Mikasa spoke. "W-Why!?"

"It will be harder for the both of us once one of us dies." He simply said that made Mikasa look up to him with her face drenched with her tears.

"But you're too late now." Mikasa softly said, as her voice broke, facing down again. It was more like whispering to herself.

"I know." He plainly answered, agreeing on what Mikasa had told him.

"No. You don't." She said, as her voice continued to break down. "I've grown attached to you already. Even without telling me that you're an Ackerman." She said as soft as possible, getting timid of what she was saying.

"I, as well." Levi said that made Mikasa's eyes grew big and face him, as she stared at his masked eyes, that only her could see through it. "That's why I've tried telling you about it several times before, but someone would always put a halt to it whenever I tried to tell you." He said as he looked away from her eyes, looking at the land beside them. "And I thought that maybe, it still wasn't the time to tell you about it."

Mikasa completely released her grip as tears continued to fall from her eyes. She looked down to the grass in front of her as she was thinking of all the things that happened in a short span of time.

She placed both of her arms in front of her while she was thinking. "I actually proved myself that telling you about it was not the thing that I should worry about, before." Levi suddenly said that made her look at him again.

"It was letting my guard down as you passed through my walls without even breaking it." He said and was preparing himself on standing up, before he felt Mikasa's warm hands holding his wrist, her warmth passing through the long sleeve of his shirt.

"Don't." Mikasa said as she looked at him. Levi furrowed his brows as he looked at her with confused eyes. "Don't leave me."

Levi was startled with what she said, still having the mask that he always wore on him. He felt something through her words. He felt that it meant something. Not just by leaving her on that place, but it was something that told him to not leave her, ever.

He did not know what to do. He knew that they might have a peaceful life for the mean time, but they did not know what they would be facing in the future. They did not know what was ahead of them.

But then, Mikasa made him decide for himself, that he should not matter of what their future might be, and he should probably think of what was happening to them at the present. Even though he did not want to risk anything anymore, he did it. And deep within him, he hoped that it was something that he would not regret.

He held her hand, as he gripped it tightly, looking directly at her bright hopeful eyes, before he responded to what Mikasa had said.

"I won't."