The crimson petals swayed in the gentle wind. Being this high up, there was always a slight breeze. The tan jacket kept him warm enough. He had always found it to be strangely serene up here, away from it all. But today he didn't feel at peace. As he stared down at the rose in his hands, his legs hanging off the side off the wall, he couldn't help but remember. Things were so much different back then. He looked up at the blue sky, then down towards the rose. Heights used to scare him, as so many other things did. The Garrison member's gaze moved up towards the forest in the distance as the petals that were so desperately clinging to the flower finally gave in, and drifted with the wind off into the air, to float down slowly towards the ground. Heights are nothing to be afraid of. The nervousness he felt now was nothing. Nothing to what he had felt before.

"Why do we always have to come so far out here? Let's get home, supper has got to be soon." he grumbled as he kicked up the grass, throwing dirt into the air.

"Wait….. I'm almost done."

"Come on! I'm so booored!" Adam pouted, falling to the ground on his back. He looked up at the cool blue sky. The grass felt warmed from the sun, although the breeze made him a bit chilly. This was one of the few fields within the walls that was open, with no buildings around to block the wind.

"There!" she whispered triumphantly, picking the final colorful flower and adding it to the collection. She knelt down next to Adam and proudly showed him the bouquet. "Aren't they pretty?"

Adam sighed, and tried to show that his disinterest in something as unmanly as flowers.

"They're just flowers. Who cares?"

"Well I do."

Adam rose up, clasping his arms around his knees. He looked at his big sister holding the colorful collection. She was much like him, with brown hair and eyes the color of the boundless blue sky. Her hair fell down on her neck, she hated keeping it tied up. It had been a while since he had a proper haircut, so his hair was quite messy, much like his clothes. "What are the yellow ones called again?" he asked finally.

"Oh, so you do care?"

"N-no! I'm just being nice."

Elisabeth giggled. "Those are called daisies. The white ones are a type of orchid, and the pink ones carnations, and the red ones are called-"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Like I said I was just being nice. Let's go home now Sis."

"Alright, Dad is probably worrying. Anyway, the red ones are roses," she said, as she pushed the flower stem into her hair.

The walk home through town was peaceful enough. The stone road had smoothened from constant use over a hundred years, and it cut straight through the town. Elisabeth led the way as Adam followed close behind, staring up at the sky. As they continued along the road, the buildings began to grow closer together. The outskirts of the city of Shiganshina was not as lively and constantly moving as the cities closer to the capital, but rather peaceful. There wasn't much excitement to be seen within their town, save for the occasional returns of the Survey Corps that entered through the gates every now and again. As they followed the road back to their familiar street they saw such a group returning to town. The soldiers all marched in line, many on horseback. However, this was in no way a parade. There was no grandeur, no display of pride like that of the Military Police. These men and women were battered, broken, and tired. As they came closer, Elisabeth could see the pained faces of the soldiers. Few seemed to be wearing the brave face that she had seen the groups leave with. Some had a familiar expression to her; blank and unemotive as the face of a doll. She then saw a cart, with a cloak obscuring its contents. Elisabeth had seen this before. She grabbed Adam's hand, and moved quickly towards their home when the path was cleared.

Elisabeth walked through the wooden door, creating a familiar creaking noise as it's red coat of paint brushed up against a loose floorboard. She put the flowers down on the wooden table as Adam followed her inside. The room was small and simple, lit by a single window. It contained only the essentials, but was clean and tidy. The table in the center had three small bowls arranged, and a pot of soup in the middle. Elisabeth walked over to the window and closed the shutters, blocking out the persistent breeze. Adam eagerly took a seat, and grabbed the serving ladle. She glanced at him, and he reluctantly put it back down. They both heard a familiar knocking against the ground. Adam looked down the hall, toward the bedrooms. The man looked aged beyond his actual years, with dark brown hair that faded into gray. His eyes were tired and dull, framed by an old pair of glasses. His clothing was formal, but the colors faded from years of use. The man shuffled forward next to the table, placing his weight on the crutch with every step. He stared down at the bowls, and then at the bouquet that layed next to them.

"Flowers?" he finally said, quietly but clearly.

"For Mother," Elisabeth replied.

Their father sat down next to his children, concealing a grimace. He reached over and picked up the ladle, and scooped the soup into the wooden bowls.

"What kind is it?" Adam asked, disappointed with his share.

"Potato. Eat up, you're still growing- or, at least you should be," his father replied with a smile.

"Hey! Give me some time, I'll be taller than Sis and you in a few years!" Adam insisted.

Elisabeth and Father chuckled. This was true, Adam seemed to be a little taller every week. In a couple years time he would be a man. Elisabeth glanced at her brother, and then at her Father, wondering if Adam would look like his father in a similar way of her mother and her.

"So… uh, Father. Today one of the Garrison troops brought me to the top of the wall. I could see the entire town from up there!" Elisabeth said excitedly.

"Is that so?"

"Wait Sis, you went up on the walls?" Adam asked between mouthfulls of potato soup.

"Yeah. It's awesome! Hey, maybe next time you can come up with us too! You can see for miles!"

"Heh… uh… no thanks Sis. I'm okay down here, on the ground,"

Elisabeth looked at him and giggled. She put her hand on his head and messed his hair. "Oh! I forgot you're afraid of heights"

"Wha-? No! It's just… I'm not sure that I… uh,"

"It's okay to admit when you feel fear Adam" Father said, in his low and seemingly all knowing voice. "Admitting you are afraid is the first step to conquering that fear. Nobody can judge you for that."

"Then why are you grinning?!" Adam cried angrily.

"Anyway Father, I've been thinking about it again. I was up there, up on the wall because... I was talking to the troops who are looking for new-"

"No."

"But Father! This could help us! The troopers and paid and fed better, their families too! You know that we need this, you know that its hard for you to work!"

"Watch yourself... I will not let you join up with those… morons. It is too dangerous! Do you expect me to just let you do that?"

"Father, I can make this decision. I will be fine, you know I can take care of myself. Only the Survey Corps actually see any real combat, and I wouldn't even want to leave you and Adam alone to go on scouting missions," Elisabeth argued, choosing her words more carefully now.

"The training alone can kill you! I will not let that happen! I will not lose you too!" Father said as he slammed his fist onto the table, spilling his small wooden bowl and sending its meager contents flying.

Elisabeth stood up defiantly. "I can help us." She grabbed the bouquet off of the table, saving it from the growing puddle of soup.

"Look... Elisabeth... please-"

"I'm… I'm going to bring these to Mom," Elisabeth said, as she walked away from her father and out the small red wooden door.

Elisabeth walked down the stone street holding the flowers, her eyes focused on the ground in front of her. He was so stubborn. He couldn't accept that by joining the Garrison she would be infinitely more helpful to her family. As she walked through the town, she glanced up to see troops walking the other way, their tan jackets proudly showing the Garrison's insignia. She couldn't do anything the way she was now. If she could learn how to protect Adam, to protect her father, she wouldn't lose anyone ever again. She would be stronger.

For Shiganshina, the town was lively today. Street vendors cried out the prices of their wares, and everyone seemed to be out and about. Elisabeth's neighbors yelled cheery greetings from their windows, and she forced a polite smile back. As she walked away from that familiar street, away from the buildings that huddled close together, she heard a shout.

"Elisabeth! Hey! Wait up!"

She glanced back at her brother Adam, who was barreling after her.

"Why did you just run out the door like that?" he questioned, pausing for a breath.

Elisabeth sighed, and held the bouquet closer to her face. The flowers smelled so sweet.

"Come on, we are almost there. You know the way," she said.

They followed a worn path to the location. Set away from the town, it seemed like its own world, separate from everything else. As they walked up to it, the stone seemed weathered and worn. The two siblings knelt down, putting the flowers against the cracks that had smoothened over time.

"I can't believe it has already been four years," Elisabeth whispered. She glanced over at Adam. She remembered when Father told him what happened. He didn't accept it at first, just looked blankly into the sky. He spent days walking around the house, as if he was searching. Even now Elisabeth felt he fully didn't understand. Adam was visibly upset just by the stones presence, fighting back tears. He didn't want her to see him cry. He was like that now, pretending to be strong. Like she had been. Like she still was.

Elisabeth often made the trip alone, as her father had a difficult time walking all the way out here with his crutch, and Adam seemed to want to just forget. The gentle breeze pulled some of the petals off the bouquet, and into the air. She herself found difficulty in this monthly ritual, although she felt obligated to make it in place of her father. She remembered him that day too. He had already seemed to know before they even started explaining to him, it was if something had told him. Maybe he just sensed it. He was broken again that day, and just like his leg he never recovered.

Elisabeth rose up, and tapped Adam on the shoulder. He quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve, and stood up too. They began to walk away, turning their backs to the stone engraved with Mother's name. Adam looked up at his sister.

"Hey. I think you forgot one," He said, as he pointed at her. She touched her hand to her hair, and felt the crimson rose that was still stuck.

Elisabeth turned to face Adam, and was met with a blank face, as if he was made as the same stone as the grave marker. She looked at him puzzled.

"What's the matter?" She said.

She heard it then, the monstrous cracking sound as if the world was splitting. She turned to face the wall, and saw it. A monstrous hand, red and white as if it had been flayed, grasped the structure as if it were a wooden fence. Smoke rose through the air, and revealed a massive giant's face, skinless and expressionless. Elisabeth tried to turn to Adam once again, but felt herself frozen, as if time had stopped. Everything seemed quiet, even the wind had finally stopped blowing. All she heard was the steady sound of her own heartbeat. Elisabeth couldn't look away, not until she heard another earthshaking noise. The sound of stone cracking.

Elisabeth grabbed Adam's wrist, and began running back to town, as fast a she could. She dragged Adam behind her, he refused to move.

"Adam. Adam! We need to go back to town, now! Come on Adam!"

There was no fear on his face. His pale blue eyes looked as if they were lifeless, they were glass. His face was blank, and stared up not towards the colossal giant but towards the sky. He didn't respond, and stayed still; an unmoving ice sculpture. But, after a few moments he faced Elisabeth with that blank expression and followed close behind. Elisabeth could see in the distance the fracture in the wall, like a crack in a tombstone. Giant, hulking bodies shuffled through, inhuman forms with no rank or file. Elisabeth knew what they were, she had seen them before. Her mind screamed at her to move faster, to make it back to her street, to her home and to her Father.

The peaceful path they had walked minutes before now taunted them. She dragged Adam towards the buildings, and as they grew closer together the buildings felt like walls themselves. When she arrived in that familiar square the inhumane forms were already upon the town. She heard screams and cries, pleas and prayers. Rubble littered the streets: brick, wood, and stone. Elisabeth forced herself to look away from a mutilated body, and covered her brothers eyes. It was crumpled and broken, like a rat trampled by a horse. Adam said nothing, made no noise. His eyes didn't even glance at the rubble, at the chaos, or at the body, they stared straight up. They were still glass.

Over the rooftops she could see their inhumane heads, grinning with their blank, lifeless eyes. Elisabeth ran through the town, searching for her house amongst the turmoil, for the red door. Shiganshina was on fire. A conflagration had enveloped its buildings, ashes falling slowly to the ground. She heard the sound of cannon fire, the slow and steady concussive shots one after another. However loud they were, the screams drowned them out.

As she rounded the corner to her street, she saw it, splintered and broken. Shards of red painted wood littered the street. Her small home shattered, the roof collapsed. She felt a tugging on her arm, and saw Adam sprinting towards it, his face full of fear, his icy shell broken.

"Father...FATHER!" he screamed, "ARE YOU THERE? WHAT IS HAPPENING?"

Elisabeth ran after Adam, peering into their broken home to see any sign of him, any sign of protection.

"FATHER PLEASE!" Adam cried, and ran between the small buildings to the back of the house, "FATHER! FATHER WHAT IS HAPPENING? PLEASE! FA-"

Elisabeth ran after him through the alley, but she lost her footing on the smoothened stones of the street. When she rose up and rounded to the back of the house, she froze in her place. A giant lay obscured by the rubble. Its face resembled that of an old man, a grin stretching from ear to ear. Its eyes looked lazily at Adam, its teeth a crimson red. He stumbled, falling to his knees. Its massive arm rose, and clasped around him. It lifted Adam into the air, and opened its mouth. Elisabeth rushed forward, screaming.

"ADAM!" she cried, desperately, "ADAM!"

She screamed at the monster, screamed at it to release him. It didn't hear her, focused only on the boy who was once again blank. Adam looked up towards the blue sky.

"LET HIM GO!" Elisabeth screamed, and picked up a broken crutch that lay in the scattered rubble. She attacked the giant, stabbing at it with all her strength. Its gaze moved to her, its arm released Adam. He fell to the ground, onto his back. She felt its massive fingers close around her, and she felt herself lift into the air. The crutch was dropped from her hands as she felt the immense pressure of its grip.

"Adam! Adam!" Elisabeth shouted, "Run! Get away now!"

Adam was lifeless. His blue eyes stared up towards the sky. An ice sculpture.

"Adam, please! Run!"

Elisabeth's cries finally broke through. He pulled himself up, and clasped his arms around his knees, frightened.

"Go! GO!"

He rose to his feet, and looked at her desperately. She screamed for him to run, rising higher into the air, the giant's mouth open.
"I...I can't… I can't leave you! There must be something I can do!"

"Run! Run towards town, the soldiers will protect you! You have to get out of here! You have to go now! Don't be afraid, do-"

Adam fell to his knees once again. A rose floated towards the ground, and landed in his hands. It was soaked in a brilliant crimson red, covering its green leaves. Adam rose to his feet, and obeyed his sister.