A/N: So my original story, Those Who Fight For The Sake of Freedom, as well as a couple of my other stories, was removed from Fanfic due to its material. But fortunately, I was planning to rewrite anyway.

The beginning of this is different than my first one, but hopefully I can make this one seem more...I don't know...more SnK than my original? LOL XD.

The reason I'm rewriting this is because I didn't save most of my original chapters (because I'm a fool). But I hope that you'll enjoy this once as much as the original one.

*UPDATE: I changed the main OC's name. hopefully I replaced it all, but I may have missed some. Her name is supposed to be Ayla.


Ayla's P.O.V.

Death was all around me.

I walked all alone, holding the place where my arm had been bitten off to try and staunch the blood flow. I knew that I didn't have much longer to live.

Everywhere I looked, I recognized a face. All of them. Their dead faces seemed to watch me as I hobbled past them, trying to find a way out of here. It was hopeless, but I had to try.

A rustle of leaves caught my attention. Surely, a titan was coming to finish me off. As it should, because I had failed to protect what little family I had had left in the world. I waited for it to jump out and attack.

Suddenly, a boy a year or two older than me was in front of me, his brown eyes locked onto me. He said my name in a calm, steady voice.

'Ayla...'

Who was he? I had never seen him before in my life. Still, despite not knowing him, it was my duty as a soldier to protect him. I limped forward, removing my bloodied hand to reach for a 3D maneuver gear blade. I approached him as quickly as I could, determined to perform my duty.

A huge thump announced the arrival of a fifteen-meter class titan. I prepared for battle, knowing that I wasn't going to be able to walk away from this fight alive. I had already lost far too much blood.

But still. I had to try.

A form raced past me, so quickly that had I blinked I would never have known. It was the boy that I had just resolved to save. He ran straight toward the titan, a strange type of sword in his hand.

He was going to get himself killed!

I raced after him as best as I could, trying to hopefully catch up to him to save him. He was already at the fifteen meter's feet, slashing away. As I ran, it seemed that my movements were put into slow motion as I watched the fifteen meter suddenly snatch him up from the ground and lift him towards its mouth

"Noooooo!" I yelled as I reached out toward the boy. But the scene before me was quite different now.

Instead of being in the outside world surrounded by titans, I was now back in my room in the Survey Corps HQ. Everything was the way it should be. My room in its normal untidy state,

I lazily sat there for a few moments, trying to wake up from the nightmare that I had just had. So strange...I wondered who that boy was and why he protected me.

'It's just a dream.' I mentally reminded myself. 'He probably doesn't even exist.'

As I tried to shake off the strange feeling that the dream had left behind, I looked at the clock. My heart thumped anxiously in my chest as I processed the time.

I was going to be late.

"Shit!" I panicked, snatching the covers off my body.

I hurriedly jumped out of bed and ran to my bathroom. My hand found my hairbrush, and I immediately started to yank it through my thick, brown curls. As soon as it was manageable, I braided it into a single braid and tied a hair tie in it. Then, I brushed my teeth while undressing from my night clothes, rapidly replacing them with a white button up shirt and my standard uniform pants.

I darted out of my room, slamming the locked door behind me as I rushed toward Levi Heichou's office. He was going to give me a strict punishment for being late to this meeting, especially my first.

After all, I was now an official member of his squad.

A week ago, the captain had contacted my older brother David, who was also my squad leader, about me joining Squad Levi. I honestly wanted to decline so I could stay with my little brother Kai and best friend Isabella, who were also in the squad, but David ordered me to go join the captain. It had been three days since I had seen any of them.

Just ahead lied the door to his office. And it was still open! I pressed on harder, trying to squeeze in before Levi Heichou came in.

All of a sudden, some dark haired boy was in front of me. He wasn't facing me, going in the same direction. I realized, however, that I was going to hit him.

My attempts to stop might have worked, had I not tripped on the carpet that

"Ahhh!" I shrieked as I came tumbling down. Unfortunately, the boy ahead of me was too close; I ended up taking him down with me. He spun around last instant and reached his arms out to try to catch me it looked like. But instead, he fell backward, and I landed on top of him.

"I'm sorry!" I apologized as I scrambled off of him in a hurry, my face burning bright red.

"It's fine..." he replied, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head. He looked up at me and I almost staggered under the gaze of his bright green eyes.


Eren's P.O.V.

I had no idea anyone had been behind me until I heard a gasp. That was when I spun around and saw the girl as she started to fall. I had reached out to catch but only ended up getting myself knocked down. She landed on top of me,

"I'm sorry!" I heard her say as she climbed up off of me. Putting a hand to where I had hit my head on the floor, I looked up at her to see hazel eyes staring into mine. She had dark brown hair that was pulled into a single braid that contrasted greatly with her pale skin. Except her cheeks had a pink tint, probably due to embarrassment though.

"Alright, you two shits." Levi Heichou suddenly said, bringing me back to the real world. "Both of you on night watch the rest of the week. Since neither of you seem able to get somewhere on time.

"But-" I protested, before Heichou cut me off.

"Want me to make it two weeks?"

I sighed in defeat. "No, sir."

"Didn't think so. Now go sit your asses down." He walked away to go to his own seat. Great. Now he was pissed at me, all because this girl had shown up late, getting me caught as well.

"Thanks a lot." I hissed at the girl as I rose to my feet.

"I said I was sorry!" She snapped back, sounding irritated. "It's not my fault that you're late, too."

"Well, if your klutzy ass hadn't tripped and tackled me, maybe Heichou wouldn't have said anything."

"Oh, so this is my fault?!"

"You said it, not me."

"GET OVER HERE NOW SO WE CAN START THIS DAMN MEETING ALREADY!" Heichou hissed at us.

I gave her a glare, and she returned the favor as we walked over to our seats. Hanji and Moblit were there, Hanji cackling at everything that had just happened while Moblit looked around nervously. Heichou just continued to shake his head in annoyance. To my embarrassment, Commander Smith was there, too. His expression was as stoic as ever as he stood up.

"Well, now that we're all here..." Commander Smith began. "I think I should let you all know that I've planned an expedition outside the walls within the month. We'll leave from the Karanese District and make a simple round in order to survey the area."

"Why are we doing that, Erwin?" Hanji asked curiously. "Is there another Titan shifter that we're going after?"

"No." He replied. "It's honestly just a simple scouting expedition."

Heichou snorted. "Hold up. Before you start with strategy, I want to know what the verdict on this brat is."

Commander Smith paused for a moment before responding. "She will be joining your squad as you requested."

My mind went blank. She was going to be in the same squad as me?!

'Terrific.' I thought sarcastically to myself, giving a visible huff of irritation. Nobody noticed it, which was good for me; i didn't need to get myself in more trouble. My eyes glanced over to her quiet, still form.

"If you'd all like a formal introduction, though," Commander Smith responded. "This is Ayla Keefe; she'll be reassigned to Squad Levi as of now."

"Levi, you got another one in your squad?!" Hanji exclaimed enthusiastically. She laughed and then turned to me. "That means Eren has a new squad member!"

I grimaced.

"Aren't you David Keefe's relative?" she continued, turning to the girl seemingly lost on the whole conversation.

I wondered what the point of me being present was, because the rest of the meeting was filled with nothing but strategy and placement of soldiers. That is, once Hanji stopped asking Keefe so many questions. I grimaced once again when I heard that she and I were going to be in the same cell while riding, but I had no control over that so I just kept my mouth shut. But part of me wondered why she pushed my buttons so much when I had just talked to the girl for the first a fucking hour ago.

After the meeting was over, Commander Smith dismissed us. I crossed paths with Ayla as we exited. Heichou met us at the door way, telling us where to go for our punishment.

Shit.


Ayla's P.O.V.

"Get to guard duty, you filthy brats!" I heard my new superior officer yell at me as I slowed from my running.

I resisted the urge to curse him out, not wanting to be disciplined even further. In addition to his punishment of guard duty, he'd also made me run laps for two hours and clean the horse stables, which I had to do every day for two weeks. Not only that, but I had to do it with Eren.

That was punishment in itself.

I may not have twenty words to the boy, but I already thought of him as an ass. Ever since leaving the meeting today, he'd done nothing but do stuff just to irritate the hell out of me. There were a couple of times that I almost turned around and beat the shit out of him, but thankfully I didn't. And I say thankfully because almost always after I had resolved not to hit him, a superior officer would walk by. I didn't want more disciplinary actions against me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Eren slow down beside me. Fortunately, he seemed too out of breath and tired to make any smart ass comments to me. We didn't come to full stop until we were standing in front of Heichou.

It was almost humorous that my new superior officer was shorter than me. But I wasn't going to dare say that out loud.

"You two can have a thirty-minute break before you head on up." He told us. "But if your asses aren't up there in thirty minutes, you'll be cleaning the entire HQ for a month. Understand?"

"Yes, sir!" Eren and I responded simultaneously as we saluted. Heichou walked off, leaving us alone.

I didn't say anything to him, nor did he bother me. Instead, we walked off in the direction of the mess hall. Instead of going in the same door as him however, I decided to go in through the side, to avoid the temptation of decking him if he should say something.

My senses grew alert when I heard a familiar voice call my name.

"Ayla!"

My eyes scanned the mess hall until they focused on the two people coming toward me. The auburn haired boy was my little brother Kai while the girl with her dark hair tied back in a low ponytail was my best friend Isabella Rothschild. They both took in my exhausted expression, concern on their faces.

"What happened?" Isabella asked me.

"You look like crap." Kai said, not meaning to offend, just making an observation.

"Well..." I answered. "I was late to that important meeting this morning and my new squad leader decided to teach me the importance of showing up on time."

It was childish, but I was half hoping at least one of them would say, 'Poor Ayla. Having to do all of that exhausting stuff.'

But I knew exactly what was coming.

"I told you not to stay up so late, didn't I?" Kai scolded me. Honestly, you'd have thought he was the older sibling. "You never get up on time unless you do that. What have I-"

"Kai, please spare me the lecture." I interrupted. "I'm really not feeling good."

That silenced him. "You need to go eat something. You're pale as a ghost."

"I'm not honestly hungry." I told him, and for once my stomach didn't betray me by growling. "I just wanted to see you guys before I had to go on guard duty."

Isabella's eyes narrowed while Kai walked off. Probably going to get me some food anyway, despite what I just told him. "How much stuff are you having to do?"

I gave a halfhearted laugh. "Well, I had to run for two hours, and clean the stables. Which will be my punishment for the next two weeks."

"Ouch."

"That is not even the worst part, Izzy. I have to work with Jaeger."

She was silent for a minute. "The Titan shifting boy?"

"Yep."

"Huh."

"What?"

"I'm surprised that you're not excited about that. I mean, you did have a huge crush on him in training, didn't you?"

The sudden mention of that topic cause me to blush and go on the defensive. "Th-That was like...three years ago! I was stupid back then! W-Why are you bringing it up NOW?"

Isabella looked at me, surprised but somewhat amused. "I was just making a statement. Calm down, Ayla."

'I know that but still...' I thought to myself. My eyes wandered around, not resting until they coincidentally found a clock.

"Well, I better go." I told her. "Don't want to be late again."

She looked as though she wanted to stop me, but instead she just said, "Okay, see ya later." It probably looked as though I wanted to avoid that topic. Which was part of the reason, but honestly I did need to leave.

All of a sudden, my stomach rumbled. I groaned in aggravation at myself as I realized that I had forgotten to get something to eat. It didn't help that I had skipped the other two meals, too. But I would just have to shake it off until after guard duty.

Eren's P.O.V.

"Mikasa, I'm fine." I told her as she tried to give me her bread. "You need to eat it, don't worry about me."

I knew she was worried. I must have looked like hell when I walked into the mess hall. I sure felt like hell, but after eating supper I regained a little energy. Hopefully, it would be enough to carry me on through night guard.

She continued to try and hand it to me. "Eren, you need more energy if you have to work more. I'll be going to bed soon, so I don't need it."

My stomach inconveniently growled a little.

I sighed in annoyance and defeat, taking the bread from her and tearing it in half. I began to eat one half while giving her the other back. "Thanks."

She seemed somewhat relieved that I had taken some of it. Across from me, Armin had finished eating and was reading a book. On what, I didn't know and I had been too tired and hungry to care. He looked up from it suddenly to join in the conversation.

"What did you do to make Heichou upset anyway?" he asked me.

"Well, I did...run late for the meeting this morning."

"Eren..." Mikasa sighed. I couldn't blame her for her annoyance; she did come by to wake me up on time. It's just that I went back to sleep after she left for her training.

"Hey! Heichou may not have even caught me if it hadn't been for the new girl in our squad!"

"There's a new squad memeber?" Armin repeated in a question. "Since when?"

"Since I found out this morning." I replied. "Anyway, she was later than I was. But she came in the door like a bat out of hell. Pratically tackled me when she tripped, too."

"Then Heichou punished you for being late, and you blamed her. Am I right?"

"Well..." I stumbled for words. When he put it that way..."Yes."

Mikasa and Armin sighed on cue. It really aggravated me sometimes when they did that. It almost felt like I was their kid that they kept having to steer in the right direction.

"Okay, fine!" I hissed, already knowing what was coming. "I'll apologize next time. You happy?"

My two best friends smirked at each other, giving me my answer.

"Umm, excuse me?" I turned around to see an auburn haired boy looking at me. He looked younger than us, which surprised me because I didn't think that soldiers were allowed to be any younger.

"Yeah?" I asked him.

"You're Eren Jaeger, right?"

"...Yes." I answered hesitantly, not sure where this was going.

"Oh, good." He sighed in relief before continuing. "Anyway, you have guard duty with my sister tonight. And...she left here without eating. Could you...take this to her? Please?"

He held out a small box for me to take. I studied him for a moment before asking, "Who's your sister?"

"Ayla Keefe"

I resisted the urge to say, 'Hell no, screw her' but the kid didn't seem like his sister. Shouldn't take it out on him. I took the box from him. "Yeah, okay. I will."

"Thanks." he replied, turning away to leave. Before he left us however, he warned me that I might want to hurry up and get going, to avoid more punishment. After looking at the clock, I took his advice.


A/N: So how is it? I don't know how well I'm doing. It's got nowhere near the eventful start the original did, but I'm hoping that this will make a lot more sense!

Anyway, gotta go! Bye!