Chapter 18:
"Ugh, Connie I'm so hungry!" Sasha groaned as she and her best friend swept the barracks. This was a daily ritual for them since Captain Levi was such a clean freak.
"I can't do much about that, Sasha. You'll have to wait until dinner." Connie replied.
"I just want some bread. Or even better: meat." Sasha's mouth watered at the thought.
"I can't say I don't feel the same. There's no way that'll happen though. We will just have to wait."
Sasha's eyes lit up. "Actually, I may have the perfect plan."
Connie looked at his friend with curiosity. "What do you have in mind?"
Sasha sniffed before dropping her broom. "Follow me, my trusted compadre."
The two dashed through the halls of the barracks, following the scent that Sasha had apparently sought out. Connie hoped that they wouldn't run into Captain Levi. There were few excuses they could use to validate what they were doing.
Sasha finally stopped and fell to the ground, coming face to face with a vent. "Here!" She exclaimed and pointed eagerly.
"What am I looking at?" Connie asked.
"This is none other than one of the vents that leads to the kitchen." Sasha licked her lips. "We can sneak in and get some food."
"Sasha, that's a great way to get caught."
"That's why we do it after dinner and clean up! No one will be in there, and it will be the perfect time to sneak in." Sasha grinned.
"Well one of us has to stay here and keep watch. Otherwise, we'll definitely get caught."
"Of course! That's why I let you in on the plan. You keep guard, and I'll get us both some grub!" Sasha exclaimed.
The kids returned to their daily chores, and when dinner came, Sasha's excitement rose. She could already taste the forbidden bread. Maybe even some meat. Her mouth watered as she ate her potato greedily.
"You certainly seem to be in a good mood, Sasha." Jean chuckled.
"Meat." Sasha moaned, saliva dripping down her chin.
"Oh gosh, not the meat daydreams." Jean rolled his eyes, turning his plate away from her so that she wouldn't get any ideas.
"Sasha, snap out of it." Connie nudged his friend, and she glared back at him.
"What did you do that for?" Sasha growled.
"You turned into a meat she-demon again. Good grief Sasha, get a hold of yourself!" Jean exclaimed.
"It's not my fault meat is so tasty," Sasha said, eyes drifting to Connie's plate. She quickly grabbed one of his potatoes and shoved it in her mouth.
"HEY!" Connie cried, trying to snatch the potato away. Sasha fought back.
"Oi, cadets," Levi said, smacking each of their heads. "Behave yourselves. You're being disgraceful."
"But Sasha…" Connie started.
"I don't care how it happened. I just want it to end." Levi stated, turning on his heel and going back to his own table with Hange, Erwin, and Isabel.
Connie glared at Sasha. "Dang gremlin." He muttered.
Sasha beamed at him and took another bite of the stolen potato. "Perhaps. But I'm a well-fed gremlin."
Connie narrowed his eyes at his friend as she munched happily on the potato. As much as he adored Sasha, she never failed to get on his nerves.
The kids talked amongst themselves as dinner progressed until it was finally time to retire to their rooms. Sasha's mood lightened as she eagerly awaited the moment when she would taste that forbidden food after lights out. Everything would be perfect.
The next few hours were filled with dread as she laid in bed. She had to be careful when leaving her room so she wouldn't disturb Krista or Mikasa. No one but Connie could know of her genius plan.
Finally, when Krista and Mikasa were fast asleep, Sasha stealthily snuck out of the room, closing the door gently behind her. She tiptoed her way through the hallways, praying that no one else would be up at this hour. If someone found her... bye-bye bread.
She did bump into someone, but thankfully, it was just Connie. They snuck to the vent and quietly pulled it loose, hoping that no one would hear the creaks. They set it gently on the floor next to the open ventilation shaft.
"I should only be a couple of minutes. If anyone comes, put the cover back on the vent and skedaddle. I'll know it's not safe to come out if it's in front of the opening." Sasha whispered.
Connie nodded. "If I do have to escape, I'll be sure to come back later to say the coast is clear."
They gave a nod of agreement.
"Okay. Here goes nothing." Sasha said, crawling into the vent. It was a tight fit, but she could do it. A moment passed and her eyes widened.
She could not, in fact, fit inside the ventilation shaft.
"Connie!" She hissed. "I'm stuck! Pull me out!" She kicked her legs back, gesturing to her friend to grab on and pull.
Connie obliged, dragging Sasha out with as much force as he could muster.
Sasha sighed dejectedly. "Now we'll never get that bread. Unless you can fit." She pouted up at Connie.
He sighed. "I can try."
Connie got down on his hands and knees. He cautiously crawled into the ventilation shaft, only to find that he was too big as well. These vents were obviously not made for people to crawl through, that was evident. Sasha pulled him back out into the hallway with a frown.
"My perfect plan failed."
"Well, not necessarily," Connie said. "Maybe we just need to find a smaller person. We have gained more muscle after all. No wonder it was hard for us to fit through."
"But who would be able to?" Sasha whined.
"Um...Krista?" Connie suggested.
"She wouldn't have the guts. She's too sweet for her own good. She would never steal food from the kitchen." Sasha said.
"Whelp, other than Captain Levi, that's the smallest person I can think of. And I don't think the Captain would be thrilled to discover that we were trying to steal food."
Suddenly, Sasha's eyes lit up. "Connie you're a genius!"
"I...I am?"
"There's one person smaller. One person that I know will be able to make it in. If we play our cards right...my dear friend, we will feast like kings."
...
Isabel was distraught. All she wanted was to play with Papa or Auntie Hange, but Uncle Erwin had kept them busy the entire week. Most of the cadets had work to do too, so she was left to her own devices, playing silently by herself. She hated every moment.
"Isabel!" Sasha chimed as she and Connie walked into her room. Isabel perked up at the sound of her voice.
"Sasha!" She exclaimed, running up with her toys in hand. "Play?"
"Not right now, sorry. Captain Levi has a couple of errands for us to run. But we thought we could check in with you." Connie replied.
Isabel hung her head.
"We do have something to do later," Sasha mentioned. "A special mission."
Isabel's eyes lit up. "Like Papa's?"
"Maybe even more important. It will require the utmost stealth. Do you think you're up to the challenge?" Sasha smirked.
Isabel nodded her head vigorously.
"Great. You see, Connie and I need you to sneak into the kitchen to get us some midnight snacks."
"Papa say no." Isabel shook her head.
"What?"
"Papa say no food after dinner," Isabel explained.
"Oh, but Isabel! Don't you want some yummy bread? Or even meat?"
"Papa says to listen," Isabel said.
"It's okay to disobey your parents every once and a while. Especially when food is involved. Besides, he won't even figure out! It'll be our little secret." Sasha said.
Isabel looked up at the cadets. Their eyes pleaded for her help. Levi helped people, so why shouldn't she? It seemed like the right thing to do.
"Okay." Isabel shrugged.
"Great! I'll come get you when the coast is clear." Sasha said, skipping out of the room. Connie followed close behind.
Isabel smiled, eagerly awaiting when she would be able to help her friends. She would help people, just like her Papa.
…
"Isabel. Wake up." Sasha's voice coaxed Isabel awake. Isabel crept out of her bed and snuck out of her room with Sasha. Sasha motioned for her to be quiet, and Isabel tried to the best of her ability, but there was only so much a three-year-old can do.
They made their way to the vent, where Connie met them. They took off the grate and motioned for Isabel to go inside.
"Get some bread...and definitely some meat if there's any. Get four loaves: one for you, one for Connie, and two for me." Sasha said.
"Why do you get two?" Connie whined.
"Because I'm the leader. I deserve two." Sasha retorted.
Connie scoffed in annoyance.
"Anyways, if anyone comes this way, we'll put the grate back up, so you'll know not to come out. When it's safe, we'll come get you."
"Okay!" Isabel exclaimed, not so quietly, and crawled into the ventilation shaft. Her small body fit perfectly, and she made her way through.
Sasha gave her correct instructions, telling her that if she just went straight, she would run into the kitchen. Isabel wiggled the cover open and crawled out. She plopped onto the counter not-so-gracefully and started her search.
She discovered loaves of bread in a basket, quickly getting four. Then, she went to the icebox to see if there was any desired meat. Sadly, a new shipment hadn't arrived. To make up for the loss, Isabel grabbed a couple more loaves and crawled back up to the counter. She held all of the loaves tightly and began her trek back to Sasha and Connie. The grate wasn't against the opening, so Isabel crawled out quickly, ready to display her treasures. However, the sight was not pleasing.
Levi stood in front of her, arms crossed over his chest. Sasha and Connie were quivering on the wall, too afraid to move.
"Isabel...you're in big trouble little missy," Levi said.
Isabel frowned.
"Give me the food. Now." Levi narrowed his eyes.
Isabel reluctantly gave up the bread, placing each one into Levi's hands.
"These all have your germs on them, so we can't exactly give them back. However, you all will be apologizing to the cook tomorrow." Levi said, glaring at the scouts behind him as well.
"Y-yes, sir."
"You two will also have stable duty for a week," Levi said.
"Yes, sir." Sasha and Connie groaned.
"Now get back to your rooms," Levi growled, and the two quickly ran off.
"Isabel, you're in a lot of trouble," Levi said, picking her up and carrying her towards her room.
"But…"
"No buts. What you did was wrong."
Isabel frowned.
Upon entering her room, he sat her down on her bed. "Why did you do that?" He asked.
"I wanted to help them," Isabel said.
"Why?"
"They asked. I wanted to be like you. You help." Isabel said, her lip quivering.
Levi sighed. "Sweetie, I love that you want to help, but stealing is wrong. You may have been helping Sasha and Connie, but you were making extra work for the cook. That is not good."
Isabel hung her head.
"I also told you that you weren't allowed to have food after dinner. You deliberately disobeyed me, Isabel."
"You mad?"
"No, I'm not mad. I'm just...I'm really disappointed by your decision." Levi said.
Isabel's eyes widened. She didn't think there could be anything worse than Levi being mad at her, but his words seemed to sting much more. Tears gathered in her sapphire eyes.
"I...I sorry." Isabel said.
Levi put an arm around her and held her close. "I know you don't want to hear this, but you need to be punished. You are going to sit in my office while I do paperwork. No toys. No coloring pages. No books. You are going to sit silently for thirty minutes and think about how this was not good. Stealing is not good."
Isabel sniffled. "Yes, Papa."
Levi gave her a hug. "You know I still love you, right? Everybody makes mistakes."
"But you disappointed." Isabel cried.
"Yes, I am. You disobeyed and you stole. You have to have a punishment. But I still love you, even when you make mistakes. I make mistakes too, and I hope you'll forgive me when I do."
Isabel nodded, looking into her Papa's gray-blue eyes. "You forgive me?"
"Yes, Isabel. I forgive you." Levi said, kissing her forehead. "Now...crawl into bed. You need to go to sleep."