Many lives were lost that smoky day, much like all the other days before it. The air was dead cold and still as the bodies that laid crowded around Wall Sina's inner bounds. The mission, though Annie the female titan captured, had been a devastating toll on the structures and people inside of the wall. Eren, being the young Survey Corps soldier he was, had felt deeply responsible for the damage caused. And though he should have stayed in his room and rested like Mikasa had advised him, he was too worried to sleep inside of the cramped space. The nobles filled their rooms with far too stuffy and expenseive decorations and Eren was afraid that every clumsy step he took would cause something to break. So, because of this, along with several other cloudy and muddled reasons that even Eren himself could not distinguish, he decided to sneak out of the building and into the cool night. The stars were high in the sky, though Eren no longer found hope or solace in their shine, and instead, he thought of how every star could acount as a life that was lost that day. Because of him. He should have had more control. He berated himself in an attempt to not let the tears spill out of his eyes. Eren laid ontop of a stone wall, watching the still water of the canal with a faraway expression, as he thought of how differently things could have gone that day. Suddenly he heard the rustle of clothing and turned around to see the Captain. "Captain Levi, sir!" Eren exclaimed in surprise, immediately standing upright and saluting 'humanity's strongest'. He wondered if one day he would be like Captain Levi, if he'd learn how to be so strong around the prospect of death, and be able to sleep at night... But, then again, here the Captain was now, in the dead of night.
"Relax Eren. What're you doing out at this time of night? You should be resting." Levi answered finally, his deep voice was somewhat soothing and familiar... It was nice to hear something familiar at times like this. Eren spread his feet out and allowed his shoulders to slump back into a rest position. With a bit of timidness Eren answered back, "I'll be fine Captain. I heal quickly, remember? Besides, you should be catching some sleep too." The Captain glared at him, "You giving me orders, eh? Heh. Remember your place soldier." Eren blushed in embarassement. "Y-Yes sir." He stuttered. Levi sighed and suddenly sat down on the stone wall, looking off to the canal just as Eren had been only a little earlier. "You know Yeager..." Levi started, his face turned away from the taller boy. His tone sounded serious and Eren eagerly answered, "Yes sir?" Levi sighed again and turned around, patting the place next to him, "Come sit down. That's an order." Eren nodded and slowly slid down onto the cool stone next to the Captain, his eyes boring into the back of his raven head curiously. "What is it, Captain Levi?"
"Today...we lost a lot of lives. It was a traumatic thing for all of us." Levi stated carefully, choosing his words very slowly. Eren stared at him puzzled, what was he trying to imply? Levi made a sigh of annoyance stating, "You're a real blockhead huh, brat?!" Eren detected a faint coat of blush on his cheeks. He sighed again, his hand running down his face in a tired manner, and Eren noticed the dark circles shadowing under his eyes. Could the Captain not sleep either? "Nobody ever gets used to the death Yeager... The people... there always under our eyelids, in our dreams... We remember all of their names, all of the conversations...all of the...families." The Captain abruptly stopped speaking and Eren glanced to see his bloodshot eyes, that everything he said was the truth. "But... we have to move on. Make all of their sacrafices worth it...Understand, brat?" Eren nodded, a bright smile of admiration filling his face. Captain Levi was inspiring, he'd seen so much but still pushed on towards the future. Towards freedom. "Captain Levi really is a good person." Eren said with a smile, watching his childhood idol's reaction. He blushed, looking away, "Damn brat."
Eren laughed lightly, covering his mouth with his fist, though careful not to accidentally turn into a titan once more. They looked towards the sky, the light of dawn starting to peek out from under the dark blanket of the night, and smiled with new hope. With the pain of yesterday, they would push through today with wings of hope and soar towards tomorrow.